Jakarta, <strong><em>NU Online</em></strong><br />
Amid predictions that it will fail to achieve its target of attracting six million foreign tourists this year, Indonesia will launch a "Visit Indonesia Year 2008" next January.<br />
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Consequently, the government has asked all airlines in the country to help promote national tourism program, including the "Visit Indonesia Year 2008" campaign.<> <br />
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The program will be launched in an effort to revive the country’s tourism industry which experienced a prolonged slump following a series of terrorist attacks in Bali and other parts of the country. <br />
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Now, the government is hoping the country will be visited by up to seven million foreign tourists during the Visit Indonesia Year 2008. To help achieve this target, the government is launching intensive promotions, including those it wants carried out by airlines.<br />
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"We hope that all airlines will help promote ’Visit Indonesia Year 2008 (VIY 2008)," Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik said when officiating at a function marking the embossing of the VIY 2008 logo on national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia airplanes on Friday.<br />
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"When Malaysia launched its Visit Malaysia Year 2007, all Malaysian airplanes carried the VMY 2007 logo," he said.<br />
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Malaysia which spent US$80 million on tourism promotion was able to attract 15 million foreign tourists by painting its VMY 2007 logo on its airplanes. By painting the VIY logo on all Indonesian aircraft, Indonesia also hopes to achieve its target of seven million foreign tourists arrivals next year.<br />
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The minister said however that basically Indonesia was able to attract more foreign tourists, especially in terms of the money it had spent on tourism promotions.<br />
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With US$10 million in tourism promotion cost, Indonesia was able to attract five million foreign tourists, while Malaysia which spent US$80 million managed to attract only 15 million tourists.<br />
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"With the promotion cost, Malaysia should have attracted foreign tourists 80 times bigger," the ministers said.<br />
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He said that in order to attract more foreign tourists to Indonesia, he had ordered national airlines to paint the logo Visit Indonesia Year 2008 in their aircraft.<br />
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"I was upset several weeks ago (to see the slugishness of airlines in painting the logo on their aircraft). If they still failed to paint the logo on their planes until the President launches the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 on January 1, these companies have no sense of nationalism," the minister said.<br />
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Garuda Indonesia President Director Emirsyah Satar said the VIY 2008 logo had been painted on Garuda planes as part of the company’s initial support and commitment to making Visit Indonesia Year 2008 a success.<br />
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All Garuda airplanes would later carry Garuda’s silhouette logo which constituted Visit Indonesia Year 2008 with a message reading "Celebrating 100 Years of National Awakening".<br />
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In the meantime, PT Nusantara Airlines has also pledged to paint the logo on all of its airplanes in January.<br />
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"All airplanes of PT Nusantara Airlines will begin to carry the logo next Janaury," PT Nusantara Airlines President Director Hotasi Nababan said.<br />
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The logo will be painted on the bodies of Marpati’s fleet when its aircraft is grounded for inspection at the hangar facility.<br />
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"The logo will be painted on each plane, particularly jet-planes and smaller ones, when it enters the hangar for inspection," Nababan was quoted by Antara news agency as saying<br />
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He said that by March next year, all Merpati’s planes would have carried the Visit Indonesia Year 2008 logo.<br />
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In order to support the government’s tourism program, Merpati will also sponsor VIY programs in its flight destinations such as Ternate, Kupang, North Sulawesi, Sulawesi, Poso and Papua.<br />
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Like Merpati, Garuda Indonesia also has worked out programs to support Visit Indonesia Year. "Garuda will conduct a number of events, such as appointing Miss Universe of Japan, Sachiko Fujita, as Indonesia’s tourism ambassador in Japan and providing 100,000 flight tickets to Bali free of charge," Emirsyah Satar said.<br />
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Garuda sets aside US$100,000 in fund for the painting of the VIY logo on the bodies of its 56 airplanes. "Our priority is on the planes which service international routes," he added.<br />
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Minister Jero Wacik hoped that the steps taken by Garuda Indonesia would be followed by other airlines in the country.<br />
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"We have to follow Malaysia where its planes all carry the Malaysia Visit Year 2007 logo. That’s why all airlines in the country such as Merpati, Batavia Air, Lion Air, AdamAir and others should also carry the Visit Indonesia Year logo," the minister said. (dar)
Nasional LAINNYA
